18 Libertarians on November Ballot

There will be 18 Libertarians on November ballots across the state, including candidates for the state's top three officers, governor, lieutenant governor and U.S. Senate.

Lon Cecil, 69, of High Point, a retired engineer, is the Libertarian candidate for governor. J.J. Summerell, 58, of Greensboro, a benefits communications and enrollment firm manager and state party chair, is the party's candidate for lieutenant governor.

Sean Haugh will run for the U.S. Senate against Richard Burr and a Democrat candidate to be determined. Also at the Federal level, C.L. Cooke is the Libertarian candidate for U.S. House District 1.

A dozen candidates will run for the state General Assembly, six in the Senate and six in the House. In Wake, Libertarians will contest seven of the county's 16 state legislative districts. Two Libertarians are running for county commission.

In an interesting twist, Wesley Casteen is the Democratic candidate for U.S. House District 7. Casteen was the Libertarian candidate for that seat in 2014. He will face Republican incumbent David Rouzer.

The state's distressful history of unopposed elections will continue in 2016. Nearly one-third of the General Assembly candidate who filed were effectively elected when the filing period closed. After the March 15 primary, that "unopposed election rate" will increase to 43 percent.

In the 120-member House, 41 members have no primary or general election opponent. In the 50-member Senate, 13 Senators will also get a free pass for both the primary and general elections. The primary will decide an additional 16 House and 2 Senate seats. So essentially in 57 state House districts and 15 state Senate districts the voters will have no choice in November.

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I’m a registered NC Libertarian and am wondering if there will be any contested Libertarian primary races. or do I have any reason to vote in the upcoming primary? I never vote for uncontested candidates, so even if I do take a Libertarian ballot in the primary. I would turn it in blank or write in unless I see contested seats. I expect to be running for Buncombe SWCD as a registered Libertarian, but that filing period is in June.